


Check Yes or No (or When Richie Met Eddie)

by GreenOrnaments



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Ch 2 compliant, Kid Fic, M/M, Meet-Cute, adult reddie, kid reddie, semi canon compliant, valentines day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:06:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29451264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenOrnaments/pseuds/GreenOrnaments
Summary: For nine year old Richie Tozier, being the new kid in school isn’t going to be easy. Fortunately, he’s about to meet a kindred spirit in Eddie Kaspbrak.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 10
Kudos: 51





	Check Yes or No (or When Richie Met Eddie)

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based around the song Check Yes or No by George Strait

**Derry, ME 1985**

“Richie, sweetheart, the bus is here!” 

His mother’s cheerful chirp cut through Richie’s thoughts as he looked in the small mirror in the front hallway and contemplated, for what felt like the five hundredth time that morning, whether or not his outfit was suitable for his first day at a brand new school. He’d never been a new kid before, but he’d seen plenty of them coming into his old school in Bangor; enough to know that what a kid wore on their first day could absolutely make or break them. And, as long as he was stuck making a fresh start in Derry anyway, he figured that he might as well go all out and make the best impression he possibly could. Maybe he’d even make some _real_ friends for once. 

Which, of course, was going to ride on whether or not he at least looked like he belonged. He took another anxious glance in the mirror at his black jeans, plain white T-shirt, and the unbuttoned, long sleeved blue shirt over it, which he especially liked because it matched the color of the shoelaces in his brand new sneakers. He’d even combed his hair for once. His glasses still looked too big for his face, but that couldn’t really be helped. At least the lenses were clean for the first time in forever. 

_I guess I don’t look too nerdy_ , he thought to himself as his eyes wandered outside of the window, where the big yellow school bus, with **DERRY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL** written in bold black letters on the side, was slowing to a stop on the snowy sidewalk right outside of his house. 

“Richie!” called his mother again from the kitchen. 

“I know, mom!” Richie answered her with a sigh as he flung on his jacket and grabbed his backpack off the hook beside the mirror. 

“Do you have your lunch?”

“Yes.”

“And your backpack?”

“Yep.”

“Did you put all your new pencils and notebooks in there like I told you?”

_“Yes_ ,” called out Richie with an eye roll as Maggie Tozier emerged into the hallway, holding out her arms.

“Have a good day, sweetie,” she said as she hugged him tight. “Try not to be nervous, ok?”

“I’m not nervous, mom,” Richie lied. 

“That’s my boy,” she said with a smile as she placed a kiss on his cheek. 

“Mooooom,” Richie protested as he broke away from the hug and indignantly wiped the kiss away. “Gross.”

Maggie laughed. “Ok, ok, better get out there before they leave without you.” She opened the front door and Richie bounded out of the house, his backpack thumping against him as he approached the giant yellow monstrosity and gave himself a pep talk while he waited for the doors to open. 

_You’ve got this, Tozier,_ he said to himself, swallowing down his nervousness as he climbed the tiny stairs and entered the bus. _Nobody here knows you were the weird kid back home. Just don’t act like an idiot and maybe they’ll actually like you._

His eyes traveled up and down the bus, quickly weighing his options on where to sit. There were quite a few kids on the bus already, leaving almost no empty spots for a friendless new kid to take. He gulped, unsure of which kid he should bother to ask if he could share their seat. For a second, he thought he might cry, which would have ended his resolve for a fresh start right there and then. Fortunately, though, a kid sitting in the back of the bus smiled and waved at him before the first tear could fall and embarrass him into oblivion. 

“Come sit here!” The boy in the back of the bus gestured to him and Richie breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way over and settled himself into the empty seat beside him. 

“Thanks,” he said to the boy gratefully as he tossed his backpack unceremoniously at his feet. 

“No problem,” the boy answered warmly. “You’re the new kid, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Richie replied, suddenly feeling the tiniest bit shy.

“I saw the moving truck at your house the other week,” the boy continued.

“Yeah, we just moved here for my dad’s job,” Richie explained as he took a good look at his new companion. The boy was small, with neat brown hair and eyes that matched. His puffy red coat looked too large for his tiny frame, giving him a slight Michelin Man-like appearance, and he was sporting a large black fanny pack around his waist in addition to the bulging backpack at his feet. In his lap was a plastic blue lunch box featuring a large photo of the characters from _The Smurfs_ on the front. 

“I like your lunch box,” Richie told him, offering a small smile, which seemed to please the boy greatly. 

“Thanks!” he said, smiling as he patted the plastic box affectionately. “I had to practically beg my mom for it. She kept saying my old lunch box was fine, plus she hates it when I watch _The Smurfs_. She thinks they’re a bad influence, but I still watch it anyway when I’m over at my best friend Billy’s house. You’ll meet him tomorrow, probably. He’s out sick today. I’m Eddie, by the way.” The boy finally stopped his mile a minute speech to take a breath and hold out his hand toward Richie. 

“Oh… I… I’m Richie,” Richie replied, hesitating for a moment before awkwardly shaking the boy’s hand, as flashbacks to being called various names he didn’t understand at his old school for holding hands with another boy during a recess game ran through his head. 

Eddie seemed to sense his discomfort and thankfully eased their hands apart. “Richie,” he repeated thoughtfully. “I like that name. Do you like _The Smurfs_ , Richie?” he asked brightly.

“Yeah, I watch it sometimes,” Richie replied with a relieved smile. 

“Jokey Smurf is my favorite,” Eddie continued. “He’s also kinda the reason my mom thinks the show is a bad influence, which just makes me like it even more.”

Richie laughed in amusement. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“Hey, if you like jokes, I have a million of em,” said Richie, beginning to really warm up to this boy he’d only just met. “What do you call a duck who gets all A’s?”

Eddie looked intrigued. “Uh.. I don’t know. What?”

“A wise quacker,” Richie replied. Eddie let out a burst of genuine laughter, which was slightly surprising to Richie, who was used to his jokes being met with, at best, polite laughter from his parents and relatives and, at worst, unamused eyerolls from his peers. The sudden validation felt so nice he decided to go for another shot. 

“How much does it cost a pirate to get his ears pierced?” he asked, and Eddie smiled as he seemed to really ponder the question. 

“I give up,” he said at last as the bus turned a corner and onto a side street. 

“About a buck an ear,” answered Richie, feeling his lips stretching into a real, honest to goodness, happy smile for the first time in weeks when Eddie’s laughter started up again. 

“You seen _Star Wars_ , Eddie?” he asked the boy before he launched into his next joke. 

Eddie nodded. “Of course. Bill’s parents have a VCR, and we’ve rented it lots of times.”

“Ok,” said Richie, “so what do you call a droid that takes the long way around?”

Eddie squinted his big brown eyes, clearly trying to think. 

“Uuuummm… uuuh… don’t tell me…”

“Bet you can’t get it,” Richie egged him on as the bus screeched to a stop and several more children boarded.

“Can so!”

“Ok, what do you think the answer is?”

“I, uh…. crap… hey Stan,” Eddie said, speaking to a tall, curly haired boy who had just joined them in the back of the bus. 

“Morning,” replied Stan.

“Stanley, what do you call a droid who takes the long way around?” Eddie asked as Stan took the remaining empty seat on his other side. 

“What do I call a what now?”

“A droid who takes the long way around,” Eddie repeated. “It’s a joke. Do you know?”

“No. Should I?” replied Stan dryly. 

“Ok, I give up,” sighed Eddie. “What _do_ you call it?” he asked Richie. 

Richie grinned as his big moment finally arrived. “Well, an R2 Detour, obviously.”

There was a beat of silence, and the Eddie let out a thoroughly undignified snort before bursting into fits of giggles. They sent him into such hysterics that he had to open the fanny pack around his waist and pull out a large asthma inhaler, which he took several deep puffs from in between snorts. 

“Oh, crap,” winced Richie. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kill you.”

Eddie shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Honest. This happens a lot, it’s no big deal.” He took a deep breath and carefully placed the inhaler back into the fanny pack, zipping the pack closed with a flourish. “Anyway, Richie, this is Stan,” he said, indicating their new companion. “He’s friends with me and Billy. Stan, this is Richie. He just moved here and it’s his first day.”

“Hi,” said Stan, offering Richie a small smile and a wave, which Richie gladly returned. 

“Hi,” he replied. 

“You picked the worst day to start at this school,” said Stan, clearly not a boy inclined to waste time getting to the point. 

“Stanley!” Eddie admonished him. 

“Well, it’s true,” Stan protested. “Today we have to color the stupid paper bags to put our valentines in tomorrow. I hate giving out valentines. I don’t even like half the kids in our class.”

Eddie rolled his eyes with a smile. “Don’t listen to him, he’s an old grumpy pants,” he assured Richie, sticking his tongue out in Stan’s direction. “Decorating our Valentine bags is fun, even if I’m not sure how many valentines you might get tomorrow, since nobody knows you yet. Do you have crayons?”

Richie shook his head. Crayons were, admittedly, one of the few things his mother had forgotten in the hasty rush to shop for his new school supplies. 

“You can use mine,” Eddie declared. “I wouldn’t want my worst enemy to use the shared class crayons. They’re absolutely disgusting.”

“Thanks,” said Richie, smiling and feeling a sudden warmth traveling from his head to his toes as Eddie kept on talking at a rate of about a thousand words per second, telling him all about himself, his friends, and what they liked to do for fun on the weekends. By the time the big yellow school bus was pulling into the parking lot of Derry Elementary School, Richie had already been casually invited to join them at the park on Saturday afternoon, almost as if he’d always been a part of the group. 

He’d also decided by then that, no matter what, he was giving out at least a couple of valentines the next day. 

“How was school, sweetheart?” his mother asked him cheerfully later that afternoon, after he’d said his goodbyes to Eddie and walked off the bus toward the open and waiting front door. 

“Fine.”

“Were people nice? Did you make any friends?” Maggie pressed him gently. 

“Yes.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” she exclaimed happily.

“Yeah… hey mom, can we _pleeeease_ go buy some crayons?”

*

The next day dawned colder and more rainy than Richie would have liked, and he was extra glad that he’d stored the fruits of his work from the night before in a plastic bag inside of his backpack for safekeeping. It contained exactly three valentines that he’d painstakingly made by himself out of the construction paper and crayons that his mom had agreed to buy for him. Woody Woodpecker for Stan. Bugs Bunny for Bill, even though he had yet to meet him. He didn’t want him to feel left out. 

And, best of all, the one he’d worked the hardest on, and was the most proud of: a large picture of Jokey Smurf holding his signature yellow gift box, which he’d carefully copied as best he could from an old coloring book. Underneath Jokey, he’d used his best printing to write PRANK YOU FOR BEING MY FRIEND in bright purple crayon. If he did say so himself, it was a real work of art. He could hardly wait for Eddie to see it. 

After what seemed like an eternity, the time of the morning finally came when their teacher stopped droning on and on about long division and instructed the students to get out their decorated Valentine bags. When the class was told to stand up and start distributing valentines, Richie retrieved his three masterpieces from his backpack and carefully dropped them into the bags of their recipients, exchanging an awkward smile with Bill as he delivered Bugs Bunny to him. 

“T-t-thanks,” Bill said.

“You’re welcome,” Richie replied happily. He returned back to his own seat and peeked inside of the bag he’d dutifully placed on the corner of his desk, even though he wasn’t expecting to receive many valentines himself. To his surprise, there actually were a handful in there. He reached in and took them out, spreading them carefully on his desk to inspect them. There were, as he’d suspected, valentines from Stan and Bill among them. A colorful Rainbow Brite valentine from a girl named Beverly. A few smaller token valentines from other kids in the class. 

And, to Richie’s delight, a large, heart shaped piece of light blue construction paper folded in half, featuring a crudely drawn R2D2 on one side next to a bright red Wrong Way sign, underneath which was printed _R2 Detour_. On the other side was written a note:

**_Happy Valentines Day, Richie! Please answer the following questions by checking the YES or NO box underneath._ **

  * **_Do you want to be my other special best friend? YES NO_**


  * _**Do you want to hold my hand and be my recess lineup partner? YES NO**_



**_You may remove this part when you’re done and put it in my bag. No pressure, though. Thank you._ **

**_Sincerely, Edward F. Kaspbrak aka Eddie_ **

Richie felt his cheeks turn warm as he snuck a peek over at Eddie, who was still busy delivering the rest of his own valentines. He checked the YES box to both questions and hurriedly tore the heart shaped paper in half, practically leaping over to Eddie’s desk to deliver it before the other boy came back. He crashed back into his seat and carefully collected his valentines back into their paper bag, which he stored in his backpack as he snuck a glance at the clock above the chalkboard. 

Suddenly, the wait for recess seemed even longer than it ever had before. 

*

**LOS ANGELES, CA 2018**

“Richie, hurry up! Our dinner reservations are for 8:00!” 

Richie smiled to himself as he detected the telltale loss of patience in Eddie’s voice outside of the bathroom door. “I’ll be out in a minute, Eds, keep your briefs on. At least until after dinner.”

“You do realize that it’s Valentines Day, the traffic in this city is a nightmare, and they’re gonna give our table away if we’re late?” Eddie grumbled on the other side of the door. 

“You wanna come in here and hurry me up, Daddy?” Richie teased, flinging the door open to reveal his very frustrated looking boyfriend, who was dressed to kill in the tailored suit and tie that he knew damn well drove Richie insane. 

“On second thought, with you looking like _that_ , maybe we should just say fuck dinner and stay home so I can eat y-“

“Richard!” Eddie admonished him, even though his cheeks were turning bright pink as he spoke. 

“Right, sorry. That’s dessert,” Richie quipped, leaning down to kiss him softly on the lips. “For real, though, I’m just about ready. I was just looking for my cologne.”

“Mmm,” murmured Eddie happily. “The one I like?”

“That’s the one.”

“Far left cabinet,” Eddie told him, pointing as he shifted his weight on his cane. “I reorganized the whole bathroom while you were away last week.”

“Found it.” Richie put a splash of cologne on the sides of his neck, adjusted his glasses, and turned back to face Eddie once more. “Well, Eds? How do I look?”

“Like the hottest recently out stand up comedian I’ve ever seen,” replied Eddie, reaching up to adjust Richie’s tie. “Whom I love and couldn’t be prouder to have on my arm this evening.”

“Careful, Spaghetti, you might make me cry,” Richie joked. 

“Ok, ok, Trashmouth, move that nice ass, they seriously aren’t going to hold our table,” Eddie prodded him gently. “I’m gonna go start the car.”

“I’ll be right there.” Richie watched Eddie leave the bedroom before he turned back for one last look in the mirror. He wanted to make sure he looked as nice as possible tonight, because it wasn’t just any ordinary Valentines Day to him. Tonight was, hopefully, going to be the happy culmination of every literal and figurative battle they’d fought together since their long overdue reunion to kill that fucking clown. 

_Wish that stupid fucker would come back to life for one night just so he could see this,_ Richie thought with a vengeful smile.

“Come on, Rich!” Eddie called from the kitchen. 

“Coming, Eds!” Richie smiled and bounded down the stairs, wrapping an arm around Eddie when he reached the bottom. He patted the pocket of his suit for the hundredth time that evening, just to make sure the hand crafted, heart shaped piece of paper was still in there. He couldn’t fucking wait for Eddie to read it. 

**_Happy Valentine’s Day, Spaghettio!_** **_Please answer the following questions by checking the YES or NO box underneath._**

  * **_Am I still your special best friend? YES NO_**


  * _**Do you want to hold my hand and be my everything partner for the rest of our lives? YES NO**_



**_You may respond with any combination of joy, tears, and playful insults that you deem appropriate._ **

**_All my love and then some,_ **

**_Richard W. Tozier, aka your future husband (maybe, I hope, no pressure though)_ **


End file.
